


Your Home. (Our Home.)

by Werepirechick



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Accidentally Moving In Together, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Police, Background Relationships, Developing Relationship, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gift Fic, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, Moving In Together, Plants, Rare Pairings, Romantic Fluff, also background shenanigans of the family, based on Ramskull's AU, mutant and human society, so rare!, this is just a bunch of dumb accidental relationship stuff and fluff, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2018-12-10 02:31:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11682195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werepirechick/pseuds/Werepirechick
Summary: Casey and Leo move in together. Accidentally. And without noticing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey look, the rarepair extrodinaire of leo/casey, with a couple even more rarepairs in the background. ignore them, this is for leo and casey, and also Ramskulls, who who owns the Police officer!Casey and Flower shop owner!Leo AU, and is drawing me super nice capritello art in exchange for their AU becoming a fic.
> 
> tbh this leo and casey are so soft and adorable i actually felt a part of my soul be saved while writing this. i hope you also all enjoy the fic. <3

It starts, probably speaking, with a forgotten jacket.

It’s still casual at that point for them; coffee shop dates, movie nights, the occasional bar trip with Leo’s siblings. They’re testing the waters still, Casey and Leo, to see where they really click, and where they might need to work on things. So they’ve been sticking to light stuff; things straight out of fourth grade. Hand-holding, knees touching, and rare and momentary kisses- things that are so sickeningly sweet, its tooth rotting. It took them months to reach this point, but each slow step of the way has been wonderful to experience.

Of course, there’s always a point that a relationship moves a level upwards. Neither of them noticed reaching that point, or going above it. Not until much later.

Leo’s hours in the shop are steady, regular. He knows his schedule and work hours like the back of his hand because he’s the one who made them. Owning a flower shop can be tiring at times, especially when customers get overly picky, or cause a fuss because their rose order wasn’t _just right,_ but it’s worth it. Mostly because he loves his work, and partially because he just likes being in charge of his own job hours.

Casey on the other hand, his hours can go all over the place depending on what tough case is on his desk that week. He’s not exactly high up in the system yet, but he’s up there enough that he’s called into all sorts of messy situations. When it’s not stressful, his work is just plain tiring, and sometimes he wonders why on earth his younger self wanted to be a police officer so much. Most nights, or days, depending on the shift, he’s pretty tuckered out from either paperwork or dealing with plain old stupid people for too many hours.

Leo’s apartment is a nice place to retreat after the worst days or nights; the plants scattered throughout the apartment, combined with Leo’s preference for calming colors and soft fabrics, makes the whole of the home one big comfy space to crash. Which Casey definitely ends up doing fairly often now, since they’ve decided to make things a little more official between them.

Casey comes over, stays the night or day, and then heads out again afterwards; taking himself and his possessions with him out into the world until he returns. The cycle goes on like that uninterrupted for a good while, without much change beyond the days of the week.

Except eventually, after a long twelve hour daylight shift at work, and Casey had been too tired to wake back up after a movie night on the couch, he spends the night in Leo’s home… and forgets his jacket when he leaves for work the next day.

Leo doesn’t notice that the coat has been left behind until he’s making breakfast for himself, and finds an article of clothing that definitely doesn’t belong to him; draped over a chair in his small kitchen eat-in.

“Huh,” He mumbles, picking up the worn but loved jacket. “He must’ve forgotten it.”

Leo runs his thumbs along the collar of the jacket, feeling the softened threads from years of use. He briefly wonders if it smells like Casey.

Then, face heating, he sets it back onto the chair. He’ll give it back to his boyfriend later, whenever they have time for another date.

Casey doesn’t notice he’s forgotten his jacket either, until a stiff breeze blows by and he finds himself shivering for a moment.

\--/--

“Did you steal my socks?”

Leo has to actually pause what he’s doing for a moment- searching for clean pants in his closet- to give Casey an incredulous look.

Casey gestures at his feet, which remain bare, despite his best attempts to locate his socks.

Leo continues giving Casey an incredulous look.

Casey stares back, then glances at Leo’s much larger feet, and makes an ‘ _ah’_ face. “Oh. Wait.”

“…Casey.”

“It slipped my mind.”

“My feet… are at least three times the size of yours.”

“I’m half awake, give me a break.”

“Three times. The size.”

“Look, when I’m spending time with you, I’m not exactly giving your feet a ton of attention. That’s not my sort of thing.”

“Oh my god.”

Casey tosses a pillow from Leo’s bed at him. Leo keeps laughing regardless of the assault.

Casey, in the end, cannot locate his socks at all, and goes to work with his feet bare inside his shoes. There are spares to be found in his locker, but still. It’s the principal of the thing, being unable to find his own god damn socks.

He blames the fact that Leo looks unfairly cute when he’s either falling asleep or just waking up, so much so Casey couldn’t keep track of where his socks went. It’s a reasonable enough excuse for their disappearance, in his opinion.

Leo rediscovers the wayward socks later that week, when he’s doing his laundry and finds clothing that is most definitely not his own in the pile of whites.

He snorts, smiling to himself, and puts them through the wash. When they’re done and dried, he folds them up into a little ball, and sticks them inside the pocket of the jacket in his kitchen. The one Casey still hasn’t remembered to take home.

\--/--

“I can’t go out tonight,” Casey sighs into his phone, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

_“What? How come?”_

The sucking, gurgling sound comes from somewhere in his bathroom again, and Casey can’t even bring himself to look. “The pipes are going bezerk in my bathroom. I had the whole tub backed up with… you don’t even want to know.”

_“Oh no, that’s- that really sucks, Casey. Can I do anything to help?”_

Casey, for a moment, counts himself lucky for the hundredth time his boyfriend is so sweet. “Not really, but thanks. I’ve got a plumber on the way and… I _think_ it’s draining. Kind of. Mostly I’m just hopin’ here I don’t have to replace the floor as well as clean my pipes.”

_“Are you sure I can’t help? Do you need a place to stay for tonight, or however long it takes to get the repairs started? You know I’d be more than happy to host.”_

Casey gets another whiff of the smell coming from his washroom, which has unfortunately gotten into the rest of his apartment as well, and wrinkles his nose. Yeah, he won’t be able to sleep with that in the air. He’ll need to find somewhere else to go for however long it takes to get things cleaned up. And as much as he doesn’t want to impose on Leo… spending the night with his boyfriend would be much better than spending it alone in a motel.

“You know, that sounds really nice. Want me to pick up dinner?”

He ends up packing an overnight bag and his uniform for the next day, and driving over to Leo’s apartment. The smell of flowers and hints of incense greet him as Leo opens the door, and after spending extended time in sewage hell, it’s a literal breath of fresh air.

Plus, Leo’s smile is always a sight for sore eyes, and Casey probably will never get tired of having it aimed his way.

They end up sprawled on Leo’s second-hand couch, eating pizza and garden salad. It’s a million times better than a lonely motel room would have been, and they talk late into the evening as they swap dinner for ice-cream desert.

Casey wakes up with a hard edge being pressed into his arm, and he finds that the tip of Leo’s shell is pressing on him, along with Leo’s skull. The turtle mutant had apparently fallen asleep pillowing his head on Casey’s arm, like Casey had fallen asleep with his legs tangled around Leo’s.

It sucks to move out of the cozy position, pins and needles in his fingers be damned, but Casey’s phone is chiming an alarm and work is just a short while from now.

He sighs long-sufferingly, and extracts himself from the warm covers of Leo’s bed gentle as he can. Leo makes a complaining noise at the loss of heat, but mumbles sleepily a _“g’morning”_ anyways.

Casey brushes his teeth, gives himself a quick shave, combs his hair and gets into his uniform fast as possible. Early shift plus late night equals him having slept in a little and needing to rush to work. He throws what clothes he can see from yesterday into his bag, kisses a still sleep bleary Leo on the cheek, and blows out the door.

Leo rubs his eyes and yawns wide enough his jaw clicks. Sometimes, Casey is high energy in the oddest moments. Like the morning after a late night, despite that the effect is supposed to be contrary.

Ah well, he got a cheek kiss and a good night’s sleep with a warm person he enjoys being around. An early morning is an easy price to pay.

Leo gets up slowly, swinging his feet onto the cool floor of his room, and set to starting his own potentially hectic day.

As he’s leaving, he notices that Casey forgot his civilian shoes in the entryway.

Leo shakes his head, pushes the two shoes gently together and out of the way, and goes to work. His work in the shop begins sooner than usual, but he uses the extra time before opening to double check orders in the back room.

He sends Casey a reminder that he’s now forgotten jacket, his socks, _and_ his shoes in Leo’s home. The reply doesn’t come until during lunch hour, when Casey replies with a text of _oh shit I KNEW I forgot something!!_

Leo rolls his eyes, tells Casey _at least you’re cute enough to make up for the forgetfulness,_ and laughs when Casey shoots back _okay how dare you say that to me_ , _I’m Hot not cute._

_A hot Mess more like._

_Ah ha ha, funny. Hilarious._

_:D_

_God dammnit you and your outdated emojis_

_;D_

_Stoppit that’s unfairly adorable._

_;3c_

_You put that paw away right now_

_3’:_

_….i take it back, bring back the paw_

_:Dc_

_Omg_

Casey ends up staying in Leo's apartment another two days afterwards, while his pipes are fixed and the vents air themselves out of sewage stink. It's definitely not an arrangement Casey complains about, or Leo, though Casey does end up forgetting his razor and toothbrush in Leo's bathroom when he goes back home.

\--/--

After the fifth time Casey falls asleep in Leo’s apartment, too content and comfy to rouse himself, Leo suggests Casey just start keeping a spare uniform in his closet; to avoid the early morning rushes back to Casey’s own home to retrieve his work things.

“You sure?” Casey asks, glancing at Leo’s closet from their position on the bed. “I don’t wanna take up space you need.”

“My closet is plenty big enough,” Leo insists, paging through his latest thrift store book find. He’s partway through, and the plot line has just introduced a possible love interest. He’s not so sure how he feels about the lizard alien just yet, but she _is_ described to have a large sword, and swords are always excellent. “Plus, that jacket will finally have company if you do.”

Casey mumbles, _“oh yeah, that darn thing,”_ and goes back to crushing candy on his phone. They remain in their reclined spots against the headboard for a few more hours, reading or gaming, until it’s time to go meet Leo’s three siblings and April for a late evening Denny’s supper.

Casey does in fact bring a uniform with him next time he’s spending the night; hanging it neatly on the far end of the pole in Leo’s closet. The jacket is hung next to it, because no matter how many times Leo has reminded him, Casey _still_ can’t remember to take it home, and at this point it seems like a lost cause. Better to just give it a new home.

Joining it soon enough is a spare pair of running shoes, for the nicer days when Leo likes to jog in the nearby park, a nice dress shirt, for when they’re invited to a spontaneous dinner party at Mikey’s place, and an assortment of forgotten CD’s, hairbands, socks, and toiletries.

Neither of them really notice it, beyond finding it suddenly easier to make plans or get out the door in the morning.

\--/--

The person who brings the state of Leo’s apartment to his attention, is none other than their resident genius. Which isn’t that surprising, in all honesty.

It happens because, during one of Donnie’s breaks from his free-lance coding commissions, he trips over a pair of Casey’s shoes in Leo’s entryway.

“Oh, you didn’t tell me Casey was here,” Donnie says, stepping over the black work shoes. “I would’ve prepared myself if you had.”

Leo rolls his eyes and smiles, because Donnie has a vague hopefulness in his voice about a Jones appearance. Few people can bicker as passionately as Donnie can, and Casey happens to be one of those people. Leaving the two of them together for long periods of time tends to generate rants and good-natured arguments the stuff of legends.

“He’s out with his little sister today, Donnie. He’s not even available for a date until later this week. Hasn’t been at all lately, actually, since he got assigned to a stakeout case.”

“So why’re his work shoes in your apartment, then?”

“Because he sometimes leaves them here, when he falls asleep too late to go home.”

“…his running shoes, too?”

“That’s because we go running on the weekends, sometimes.”

Donnie glances away from the shoes, and focuses on the coatrack. “Leo, is that his favorite hat? I saw him wearing that just last week.”

Leo shrugs. “He probably forgot that, too.”

Donnie puts his hand under his chin, and hums. Leo watches Donnie’s perplexed expression for another moment, before turning away and going to find his wallet before they head to the movies.

When he finally finds it, buried under his couch cushions, he finds also that Donnie has disappeared into the washroom while he was waiting. Leo opts to use the extra moments wisely and go find candy to sneak into the theater.

When Donnie comes out, he’s giving Leo a Look.

“What,” Leo asks, tucking his Snickers bar into his satchel. “something on my face?”

“Hm, no,” Donnie says in a casual tone. “I was just wondering why there’s a pile of Casey’s clothes in there.”

Leo opens his mouth, and then closes it as his cheeks get hot. “Those could be anyone’s.”

“Unlikely,” Donnie replies, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “The only person any of us know who wears that sort of punk band shirts is Casey.”

“We know Irma,” Leo points out, because Langstein is more punk than even his boyfriend.

“Yes, but I’m sure you’d be much more fearful for your life if April’s girlfriend’s clothes were on the floor of your apartment.”

Good point. April wouldn’t show him mercy at all if Leo did something like that.

“Also,” Donnie continues, smirking. “last I checked, you were homoromantic, not hetero.”

Leo’s cheeks get hotter. “We had a shower, okay? Last time he was here. I guess I forgot to pick them up again. And before you make any jokes-”

“Sensual not sexual, yes, yes I know,” Donnie waves him off. “We’ve been over how your relationship works plenty of times while you were drunk. I don’t need another lecture.”

Were he not green and scaly, Leo would’ve been red. “Shut up, like you don’t enjoy talking in-depth about relationship dynamics.”

“My status as a secret romantic will remain a secret, and thus you speak of lies.”

“Donnie, that’s about as much of a secret as Mikey’s pansexuality was.”

“Shush. Let’s just go watch people fall in love or blow each other up, shall we? Great. Off we go.”

Donnie kicks Leo out of his own apartment, and Leo forgets the comments about Casey’s multitude of things in his home until later. Which is the point when Mikey drops his elbows onto the counter of Leo’s cash desk in his store, and asks brightly, “So, you two officially moving in together? Took you long enough.”

Leo stares at his brother for a moment, and then tilts his head. “Huh?”

“Casey? Moving in with you? It’s been like, half a year or something. Get on that shit, brother.”

It’s only ten in the morning, and Leo is fairly certain Mikey shouldn’t be making this little sense so soon in the day. “Again, huh??”

Mikey rolls his eyes. “Donnie told me Casey’s stuff is all over your house, I called Casey to ask about that, he says he keeps forgetting things but also that he’s got a ton of spare clothing stuffs hanging in your apartment, and then I called _April_ to ask if that’s how it went for her and Irma and sort of Donnie-”

 _It’s too early in the day for this,_ and that’s something Leo thinks loudly as he looks at the ceiling despairingly.

“-and she agreed it sounded a lot like you two were moving in together, fi-nal-ly, which Donnie and Irma also agreed with, and then ta-da here I am taking a break from work to ask if it’s true or not,” Mikey finishes, all without taking a breath.  “So? You moving in together or what? Casey just made a lot of noises when I asked and hung up.”

After trying and failing to figure out what all those words together were meant to mean, Leo slowly puts his hands together in front of him, and says, “Mikey, shouldn’t you be at work helping Raph tattoo people?”

“No, I should be here asking about your love life,” Mikey replies straight faced.

“…I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Leo says helplessly. Mikey’s train of thought is very often too chaotic and confusing for him to follow, and this seems like one of those times. “We haven’t moved in together, at all.”

Mikey stares at him for a long, long moment, and then slowly smiles. “Ooooooh… so _that’s_ how it is?”

Leo feels even more confused now. “How what is?”

Mikey winks at him. “Nothin’, bro. You’ll get it soon enough.”

“Mikey??”

His brother just laughs, reaches across the counter to pat Leo’s cheek, and then exits the shop in a swirl of energy and brightly colored tattoos. Leo is left standing at his shop counter, head whirling and confusion tangible.

His phone vibrates in his pants pocket right then, and he automatically takes it out, for lack of other reactions. The screen shows a series of typo ridden messages from Casey, all seeming to be him trying to phrase _‘hey did we accidentally move in together??’_ without stating it obviously.

Leo puts a hand against his temple, and feels too tired for just a few hours of being awake.

\--/--

“So like, should we… make it a real thing?” Casey asks later, hands curled around the tea Leo had made them both. They’re sitting in Leo’s small kitchen, feet touching under the table as they sort out their accidental semi-move in.

Leo curls his own hands tighter around his cup, feeling awkward. “I… don’t know? I mean, you spend a lot of time here already, and I _have_ accumulated a fair amount of your possessions… do you want to? It’s a big step.”

Casey tilts his head one way, then the other, and finally makes a frustrated noise and runs his hands through his shaggy hair; mussing it all the way through. “God, I don’t know?? I love spending time with you, and your place is really nice- but jeeze, that’s a huge thing!”

Leo hums, nodding. He takes a slow sip of his tea, trying to calm his nerves. “Well… it worked out well enough for April, Irma, and Donnie. Maybe we should… try?”

Casey lets out a harsh breath, leaning away from the table and tapping his fingers on its surface. His expression looks the way Leo’s stomach feels. Finally, after what feels too long, he eventually says, “Okay, okay. Look, I love you, Leo, I really do, but I also like having my own space sometimes. Sharing a home all the time might make me kind of squirrely.”

Leo relaxes a fraction, smiling wryly. “No, I agree. I love you, too, but I do need some time alone now and again. I waited enough years to get out of my brothers’ space, after all.”

Casey relaxes in his chair at Leo’s words, smiling lopsidedly with clear relief. “Dunno how you did that, Leo. Your bros are great, but wow can they get rowdy.”

Leo laughs. “You know, I’m not entirely sure how I did it either.”

A beat of silence, filled with good warmth, and Casey asks, “So we keep doing what we’re doing, just for now?”

Leo thinks about it briefly, and smiles. It sounds about right for where they’re at, and he’s more than happy that they’re on the same page. “Yeah, I think that would be good. If and when we feel ready, maybe then?”

Casey grins back, and reaches across the table for Leo’s hand. “Sure, if and when we’re ready sounds good to me.”

Leo takes Casey’s hand, closing his three fingers around Casey’s five. Casey’s hands are always warm in his, like Leo’s are always gently cool in Casey’s. The opposition feels right, in a sense.

\--/--

Casey keeps his separate apartment, for whenever they need a little space to themselves, and they continue on as they had been. Items he owns make their way into Leo’s home, and sometimes they don’t leave when Casey does. When Leo discovers the forgotten items, whether left on purpose or not, he simply smiles, and finds a new home for them in his.

The apartment is still largely Leo’s, but a good chunk of it does belong to Casey. Which is perfectly fine by Leo, since it sort of shows how they’re slowly meshing their lives together. Not completely yet, but one day.

Mikey clicks his tongue and says they move too slowly in his opinion. Leo reminds him that not everyone goes through partners and relationships as quick as his brother does, and receives, _“Well yeah, but still._ Slugs _move faster than you guys,”_ in response. Raph just huffs and comments that he didn’t think they’d do it any other way. Leo nor Casey can figure out if he means that positively or negatively, and Raph supplies no further explanation than what he’s already given.

Donnie, April, and Irma exchange glances with each other, seem to shrug without actually doing so, and let the subject drop without ever saying aloud that they will. As they tend to do. Leo and Casey, privately of course, still think it’s _them_ who have the confusing relationship here, not the two of them.

Casey’s jacket, the thing that likely started the accidental move in in the first place, has a proper home on a hook now; right in the entryway, along with some of Casey’s shoes. In Leo’s bedroom, a drawer of his dresser has spares of Casey’s shirts and pants. The bathroom has two cups with different toothbrushes and paste, and a razor kit tucked neatly in the corner of the counter.

More often than not, after a hard day or night, Casey will end up on Leo’s couch or bed. And more often than not, that’s where he’ll stay for the remainder of time before his next shift. When he does this, Leo never turns him away, and rarely suggests Casey go back to his own home.

It’s comfortable, living together and yet not. It’s not official, even though they themselves are official, but it’s more than enough for where they’re at.

 

 


	2. bonus ficlet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got a request on tumblr for these two, and i thought to add it onto this adorable universe. <3
> 
> happy valentine's day, enjoy more of this rarepair.

Leo blinks at the flowers thrust into his hands, nose tickled by the largest blooms.

“Happy valentine’s day,” Casey blurts, flushing like they’re school kids and not full grown adults.

Leo gently cradles the bouquet, examining the sizable number of flowers wrapped into it. All the petals are pristine, not a single stem broken. He doesn’t typically see quality like this except from expensive floral arrangements. It’s lovely, nearly all his favorite flowers included in the bundle, but…

“Casey, I love them,” Leo says, a smile quirking at his lips. “but you remember I have a flower shop, right?”

Casey’s flush pales, and then darkens, and he covers his face and groans. “I  _knew_  there was a reason I should’ve gotten the chocolates. But it- it was  _there_ and it had all your faves, I thought- ugh, jeez, way to go Jones…”

Leo laughs. He moves the bouquet to one arm, tugging gently on the tie of Casey’s uniform to pull him down for a kiss on the cheek.

“Then it’s a good thing  _I_ got chocolates for  _you_ ,” Leo comforts his boyfriend. Casey mumbles in embarrassment, but Leo persuades Officer Jones to stop his grumbling with a sweet, highly distracting kiss on the lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dorks....

**Author's Note:**

> relationship statuses for this AU (based on my own ideas, excluding the leo/casey stuff): leo and casey are dating, obviously; april, irma, and donnie have a complicated poly going on; mikey is dating ???? at any given time; and raph dates his personal space.
> 
> i don't have much to say other than go check the creator of this AU out on tumblr, as well as the actually story line to this disaster since i fudged details and forgot other ones while writing this. whoops. (Ramskulls is an excellent artist go follow them)
> 
> anyways, thanks for stopping by, happy rarepair hunting.


End file.
